The Library’s annual summer reading program, Summer Read SF 2014, open to readers and pre-readers of all ages, officially opens on May 31 and will run through Aug. 11, offering prizes, special free weekly programs at every neighborhood library, and even college scholarships. Signing up has never been easier, through a neighborhood library, bookmobile service or online at sfpl.org/summerread.

All reading counts toward the goal, including books, magazines, e-books, audiobooks and online reading. Children through age 12 who read for 10 hours (or are read to) are eligible to receive a durable Summer Read SF Book Bag. Adults and teens who sign up, track their time and read 30 hours or more are winners, and also will receive the Summer Read SF Book Bag. In addition, all participants are eligible to enter a weekly raffle, to win prizes including passes to San Francisco museums, sporting events and attractions.

This year’s Summer Read promotion includes interactive game boards for children, teens and adults that encourage reading and allow readers to track their prize progress via stickers and stars. The beautiful artwork featured on all Summer Read promotional materials was supported by Chronicle Books and designed by Shane Prigmore, an award-winning design professional in animation, film and illustration. Prigmore’s Summer Read SF illustrations are a takeoff from his book, Planet Kindergarten, written by Sue Ganz-Schmitt and published by Chronicle Books.

Summer Read programs and activities will be held throughout the San Francisco Public Library system. To kick off Summer Read 2014, Yuyi Morales, award-winning children’s book author and illustrator, will offer a reading on Saturday, May 31, at a 12 noon appearance in the Main Library’s Fisher Children’s Center. On Wednesday, June 4, 10:15 – 11 a.m., she will lead a read-aloud of her book, Niño Wrestles the World, which won the 2014 Pura Belpré Award. This event will be held for children and families at the Mission Branch Library, 300 Bartlett St.

Watch for details about July’s Scavenger Hunt and other activities. Special thanks to Supervisor Mark Farrell, who will be awarding four college scholarships of $5,000 each for teens, ages 13 – 18. To be eligible for the drawing, teens need to sign up, read for 30 hours and submit five book reviews.

This year, five San Francisco public libraries will also be Summer Lunch locations, offering free summer lunch for all youth 18 and under. The locations are: the Main Library Children’s Center, and the Bayview, Ocean View, Excelsior and Visitacion Valley branch libraries.

Please visit your favorite San Francisco Public Library for details, or go to sfpl.org/summerread.

Celebrated children’s author/illustrator to speak at S.F. Main Library

Yuyi Morales, award-winning children’s book author and illustrator, will be the special guest lecturer for the 18th annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture, which each year honors the work of a noted author or illustrator of children’s books. This year’s event, “Creating Children’s Books: An Immigrant’s Story,” will held on Tuesday, June 3, at 6:00 p.m. in the Main Library’s Koret Auditorium.

As the guest lecturer, Morales also will help kick off the 2014 Summer Reading Program on Saturday, May 31, at a 12 noon appearance in the Main Library’s Fisher Children’s Center. On Wednesday, June 4, 10:15 – 11 a.m., she will lead a read-aloud of Niño Wrestles the World, which won the 2014 Pura Belpré Award. This event will be held for children and families at the Mission Branch Library, 300 Bartlett St.

Morales fills her books with pictures in the colors of her childhood in Mexico. When she came to the United States in 1994 as a young mother with a new baby, libraries – particularly San Francisco Public Library’s (SFPL) Western Addition Branch – became her personal oasis.

“Libraries are essential in my life and in my history. I could just be, and read any books I wanted,” said Morales, speaking about her first experiences in an SFPL branch. She and her son would stay in the library until closing, reading story after story and picking up more and more English. “In the picture books, there were some words I may not have understood, but as long as I understood a few words and looked at the illustrations, I got the meaning, and it kept me wanting to learn more.”Author and illustrator Yuyi Morales

She went on to explore books that taught her how to make paper, drawings, and puppets, and started to make her own books describing her new life. Out of that beginning came books like Niño, in which a little boy dreams of fame as a masked luchador, or wrestler; Harvesting Hope, about Cesar Chavez; Ladder to the Moon, a collaboration with President Obama’s sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, in which a little girl uses the power of dreams to move beyond loss; a series of tales about the trickster skeleton Señor Calavera; and other rich and evocative picture books.

Morales, who has drawn on her Mexican-American heritage to create a wide variety of picture books, divides her time between Mexico and California. Morales’s lecture theme, draws on all these experiences.

As part of Yuyi’s commitment to the importance of early childhood reading and education, she will participate in a series of events and presentations while in San Francisco for the Effie Lee Morris lecture:

Note to Editors: High Resolution Photographs of Yuyi Morales and Book Covers are available upon request.

Each year, the Effie Lee Morris Lecture features a distinguished guest author or illustrator of children’s books discussing his or her work for the enjoyment of teachers, librarians, scholars, and the book-loving public. The event honors the work of the late Effie Lee Morris, SFPL’s first coordinator of children’s services.

The Effie Lee Morris Lecture is sponsored by the Library’s Fisher Children’s Center, the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, and the Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter.

San Francisco – The new North Beach Branch Library opened on May 10 to great community fanfare, following a ribbon cutting ceremony and traditional lion dance, performed by the Jing Mo Athletic Association. North Beach is the 24th and final branch library to be built or remodeled through the Branch Library Improvement Program (BLIP), a $105.9 million bond measure approved by voters in 2000.

The new North Beach Branch is located at 850 Columbus at the corner of Columbus and Lombard. The building, which features two stories with double height reading rooms, was designed by Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects of San Francisco to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification or greater from the U.S. Green Building Council. The project, which was first initiated in 2003, was managed by the Department of Public Works.

Mayor Ed Lee cut the ribbon to open the new library, accompanied by Supervisors David Chiu and Scott Weiner, City Librarian Luis Herrera, State Senator Mark Leno, Department of Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru, Recreation and Parks Manager Phil Ginsburg, Library Commission President Teresa Ono, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), Friends of the Library Executive Director Scott Staub, community leader Julie Christensen and branch manager Robert Carlson.

Entertainment for the opening celebration was provided by North Beach neighborhood groups including Mal Sharpe’s Big Money in Jazz, Salesian Club Theatre of the Salesian Boys’ and Girls’ Club, and The Rabbit Hole and FOGG Theatre Youth Conservatory.

Mayor Lee praised the new building and the positive benefits for the North Beach community, including the creation of construction jobs, a place for children, teens and adults to gather, and the collaborative nature of the project. The new library was part of a collaboration and master plan with the Recreation and Park Department’s Joe DiMaggio playground, which is currently being renovated as part of the 2012 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond. That project is anticipated to be completed in the spring of 2015.

City Librarian Luis Herrera noted the significance of the new library to the community of North Beach. “In the legacy of the poets and writers of North Beach, including Poet Laureate Emeritus Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who was unable to be with us today, we invite the community to join us at this special place, your library, to read, to study, to write and to dream.”

The 8,500 square-foot, two-story building includes a community room with after-hours access for neighborhood meetings; a larger children’s area and new teen space; additional public computers; new furniture and equipment; and an expanded collection of books, DVDs, and CDs, including more materials in multiple languages to meet the community’s needs. The library is 60% larger than the former branch.

Among the environmentally conscious features of the new Library are an 11.5 kW solar array provided by the SFPUC which will help to power the building, and 11,350 square feet of insulation made from recycled denim, equating to approximately 4,500 pairs of jeans that live inside the Library’s walls. The denim insulation, provided by a grant from Levi Strauss & Co., is safer than traditional fiberglass and delivers maximum thermal benefits, reducing the amount of energy used to heat and cool the building.

The total budget for the project was $14.5 million, with additional funding provided by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, which paid for furniture and equipment in the new facility.

The North Beach library has a unique public art feature – a sound sculpture around the exterior perimeter of the building, through which the sounds of North Beach are broadcast through waterproof speakers. Sonic Dreamscape, created by world renowned sound artist Bill Fontana, features characteristic neighborhood sounds, from poetry readings, cafés, markets, sea lions, playgrounds, foghorns and more. This extraordinary piece was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission.

The new library will feature longer hours than the previous branch, and will be open six days a week. The increased hours are part of an increase in days of service and open hours at libraries throughout the city.

Prior to 2000, the Chinatown and Mission branch libraries were remodeled and a new Ocean View Branch was built. With the conclusion of the BLIP, all San Francisco Public Libraries are seismically safe and accessible to people with disabilities.

Performances and activities with the Jing Mo Athletic Association lion dancers, Mal Sharpe’s Big Money in Jazz, Salesian Club Theatre of the Salesian Boys’ and Girls’ Club, and The Rabbit Hole and FOGG Theatre Youth Conservatory.

WHEN: Saturday, May 10, starting at 12:00 p.m. Speeches and ribbon cutting at 1:00 p.m. The Library opens for service at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: 850 Columbus at the corner of Columbus and Lombard

INFO: The new North Beach Branch is the last of 24 libraries to be remodeled or rebuilt (with one new library in Mission Bay) under the Branch Library Improvement Program (2000). It was designed by Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects to meet LEED Silver certification. The green building project was managed by the Department of Public Works and features a special outdoor art/sound installation commissioned by the Arts Commission as well as solar power provided by the SFPUC and denim insulation provided by a grant from Levi Strauss & Co.

The 8,500 square-foot, two-story building includes a community room with after-hours access for the community, expanded space for children, teens and adults, larger collections and additional public computers. Friends of the SFPL raised funds to furnish and equip the new library.

The new library was part of a collaboration and master plan with the Recreation and Park Department’s Joe DiMaggio playground, which is currently being renovated.

Aboard customized tractor-trailer at this event, readers will learn how to check out free eBooks and audiobooks from their area libraries.

What: Digital Bookmobile National Tour Events

Who: San Francisco Public Library and the Digital Bookmobile National Tour

When: May 13

Where: See below for details

· The Digital Bookmobile is a high-tech tractor-trailer that tours the continent spreading awareness for digital libraries and eBooks. The event in San Francisco will provide an engaging experience for readers of all ages.

· Learn how to access library eBooks, audiobooks and more on all major eReading devices—including Windows® and Mac® computers, iPhone®, iPad®, Android™, Windows Phone 7, Kindle®, Sony® Reader and NOOK™.

· Use interactive PCs and Macs® to experience eBooks and audiobooks from libraries in California and around the country.

SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY PARTNERS WITH BIBLIOCOMMONS FOR ENHANCED CATALOG AND DISCOVERY

San Francisco Public Library, which has notably cultivated exceptional community support for building projects and branch renovations, has partnered with BiblioCommons for a catalog and discovery layer to enhance the library’s presence as a community hub online.

By adopting the BiblioCore catalog, San Francisco Public Library will join King County Library System, Chicago Public, Brooklyn Public, New York Public, Seattle Public, Boston Public, Multnomah County Library, and many other large urban and suburban library systems utilizing the BiblioCommons software-as-a-service catalog. BiblioCore works with all major ILS platforms and replaces the traditional patron catalog while encouraging community engagement around the collection, promoting the expertise of librarians as readers advisory and reference specialists, and setting a new bar for exceptional online patron experiences.

“We welcome this chance to collaborate with other large public libraries within the BiblioCommons platform and to engage our community in new ways,” said San Francisco City Librarian Luis Herrera. “We want our online spaces to be as engaging and community-focused as our physical buildings, and we look forward to working with the team at BiblioCommons to bolster the library’s ability to support life-long education in new and meaningful ways.”

The BiblioCore catalog is planned to be live at San Francisco Public later this year. After the catalog is live to the public, additional BiblioCommons modules will be implemented such as Summer Sites to support summer reading and literacy initiatives for all ages.

Contact: For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Michelle Jeffers at 415-557-4282 or Michelle.Jeffers@sfpl.org.